RESTRICTED

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE CONSTABULARY

EDWARD KING


Recorded Interview 1

Date: 7/10/1989

Duration – 23 minutes

Location – Nottinghamshire Central Police Station


Conducted by Officers from Nottinghamshire Police

​POLICE       This interview is being tape recorded. I am officer Jules Pearson. Present is Edward King, Caitlin Smith from Child Protection Services, and myself. You said earlier that you rather I call you Eddie. Would you prefer that?

EK           Yes.

POLICE       Thank you, Eddie. Can I ask how you are feeling at the present time?

EK           I don’t know. Nervous, I guess.

POLICE       Well there is nothing for you to worry about, Eddie, we are just getting a sense of what has happened. If at any point, you or Caitlin think we need to stop as you are finding it too difficult, you just say the word and we stop. Is that okay with you?

EK           Yes.

POLICE       Just remind me how old you are, Eddie.

EK           Sixteen.

POLICE       And how much are you aware of, of what has happened?

EK           Well, I know my mum and dad have been arrested. I’m not entirely sure what for.

POLICE       What do you know of why they’ve been arrested?

EK           Well, I know police came into the house while I was sleeping, then I got up, and I saw mum and dad being handcuffed.

POLICE       And what did you do then?

EK           Nothing. I just… Watched, I guess. Then a man from the police came and talked to me and said that I wasn’t in trouble but they wanted to bring me down the station to check that I was okay.

POLICE       And how much are you aware of in terms of your parent’s arrest?

EK           Dunno.

POLICE       Have you noticed your parents doing anything strange recently?

EK           No. Not any different to what they would normally do.

POLICE       You say what they would normally do – what would they normally do, Eddie?

EK           Get drunk and shout a lot. Sometimes there’ll be bangs against the wall. I don’t always stay. Sometimes I go stay at my friend’s.

POLICE       And which friend is this?

EK           Jenny.

POLICE       And this is the friend whose parents have agreed to temporary custardy?

EK           Not temporary. I’m staying there. I’m never going back.

POLICE       And what else do you know about why your parents have been arrested?

EK           Dunno.

POLICE       Okay. Would you like me to tell you?

(It is noted that EK had a long pause at this point, in which he looked to Caitlin.)

POLICE       It’s okay, Eddie, I don’t have to if you don’t want me to.

(Another long pause.)

POLICE       For the record, Eddie has nodded in confirmation. Well, Eddie, your mother and father have been arrested under suspicion of attempted murder. At the moment, we don’t know anything for sure, but we have strong enough evidence to be fairly certain at this point. You don’t seem very surprised by this, Eddie.

EK           I’m not. Sometimes bad things happen around me.

POLICE       Around you?

EK           Sometimes I see things move. Or people get hurt. I never mean it, but…

POLICE       What do you mean by get hurt?

EK           Bad things happen to people who annoy me. I don’t do anything, but it happens.

POLICE       What bad things?

EK           Sometimes they fall over, or something hits them, or they are sick, or something. I don’t know. Jenny says it’s just coincidence. I think it’s just coincidence.

POLICE       Has anything bad happened like this while you’ve been with your parents?

EK           No.

POLICE       Well your parents are accused of committing this act away from your house, Eddie. Far away. Nowhere near where you were. So, you are not at all responsible, do you understand?

(Silence.)

POLICE       Do you understand that, Eddie?

EK           Can I go now?

POLICE       Did you want a break?

CAITLIN      Did you want to stop, Eddie?

EK           I just don’t want to talk about me.

POLICE       That’s okay, Eddie, we don’t have to talk about you. You said that your parents sometimes make large bangs, what do you mean by that?

EK           They argue on the other side of the wall. I can hear them in my bedroom, at night, shouting things.

POLICE       And what kind of things do they shout?

EK           That I was a mistake. That they hate each other. That they wish the other one was dead.

POLICE       Have you ever seen them physical hurt each other?

(Long pause.)

EK           Dunno.

POLICE       Do you know what I mean by physical hurt, Eddie?

EK           Like, punch and kick and stuff.

POLICE       Yes. Have you ever seen them do that?

EK           Yes. Dad does it all the time to Mum. And he used to do it to me, then I started leaving when I heard them, started going to Jenny’s.

POLICE       And have you ever seen them hurt anyone else, Eddie?

(Long silence.)

POLICE       Let the record be shown that Eddie has shrugged his shoulders.

EK           You need to stop.

POLICE       Sorry, Eddie?

CAITLIN      Do you need to stop the interview, Eddie?

EK           No. You need to stop.

POLICE       Eddie, are you okay? Your eyes… They seem to have glazed over. Eddie? Eddie? Caitlin, do you have any idea what has happened?

CAITLIN      Eddie? Eddie, are you all right? I think we need to stop the interview.

EK           You need to stop.

POLICE       Who are you talking to, Eddie?

EK           You. It’s going to get you. It’s going to hurt you.

POLICE       What’s going to hurt me, Eddie? Are you going to hurt me?

EK           Lamashtu is here.

POLICE       Oh my God, Eddie, what’s going on?

CAITLIN      Move the chairs, he’s having a seizure.

POLICE       We need a medic in interrogation room B.

CAITLIN      Eddie? Eddie can you hear me?

POLICE       Move the chairs so he doesn’t hit his head.

CAITLIN      I don’t understand. He has no history of epilepsy.

POLICE       Sometimes these things happen. Eddie? Ed-

[recording ends]